my sister has always had allergies and asthma. over the pass few years it has gotten worse. for about a year she hasnt been able to really breath out of her nose, she is always stopped up and nose runs like water. sometimes its so bad she cant leave the house. she has been on antibiotics twice for about two weeks. the first time, for about a month she could breath, taste food, no allergy or asthma issues. after about a month it was back to not being able to breath out of her nose. the second time she was on the antibiotics (about a year later) it didnt improve at all. Its like she has a constant mild cold with no relief. at times the cold gets horrible, like when she comes on her period. she takes muxinex, allegra and her asthma pumps everyday. she has no fever and her mucus is clear so we dont think its an infection. here is some of the things we have tried:

neti pot
every tea known to man
vitamins to help with immune system
steam
humidifier
vicks vapor rub
sinus meds
cold meds
hot peppers (cleared her up for a few hours)
strong alcohol (cleared her up for the entire night)

she has been to several doctors and we want her to see a specialist of some kind but she doesnt have insurance and cant afford to just spend money until we find someone to help. does anyone have any suggests that can may help lead us in the right direction so we dont have to go through a million doctors before we find the right one? she plans to get a carecredit card to help, but we dont what to go into debt trying to help her get relief.

I have no answers, I go to an ENT, he recommended surgery because I don't remember what part of my nose but it's too small because its swollen closed? I don't remember the details lol. But he gave me some prescription nasal sprays as an alternative, they help for about 5 minutes and make me sneeze.

If it was me, I would look at diet and environment. I would eliminate all dairy and probably wheat too. Gosh if it was me I would eliminate dairy, wheat, soy, corn and any other food that I seemed to react to after eating. I would start making and drinking water kefir. Water kefir is fairly inexpensive to make and provides a great probiotic. With as many times as your sister has taken antibiotics her system needs serious support. See water kefir information at culturesforhealth.com Milk kefir is great too and can usually be tolerated by everyone but if it was me I would stay away from cow dairy for a while completely so if she wanted to make milk kefir see if goat milk is available. I buy goat milk from a local farmer directly.

Another good way to heal an immune system is with slippery elm. You can buy slippery elm powder from any good health food store. Mix about a tablespoon of powder with 16 oz of clear clean water and refrigerate for at least eight hours. I mix mine in a mason jar. It turns into a gelatinous liquid that is kind of weird until you get used to it. Drink one 16 oz jar a day.

For environment, I would look at possibly getting two things: an air cleaner and a humidifier depending on the type of heat she has. If she has a heat pump with forced air it can create a very dry air that is bad for sinuses. Does she have pet?

I had sinus surgery in 2009 for very similar issues. I was all closed up up in there. Anyway, after the surgery I could breathe, I mean really breathe for the first time in probably 15 years! Other than that I don't have any suggestions.

Sounds like me, too! Right down to feeling like it was some sort of miracle when I could go for a few weeks without any congestion or sniffling at all.

Unfortunately, I also have no quick fixes. I've narrowed it down to a couple of things...

1. Dust. I had an allergy skin test done a little while ago and I found out that I was highly allergic to it. I try to vacuum regularly and I use mattress and pillow covers on my bed. I can't eliminate it all, though, so I'm usually always sniffling.

2. Chronic sinus infections. I've actually been able to pinpoint when it starts -right after a real cold or a bad allergy attack. Basically, anytime that mucous is allowed to collect and sit in my sinuses. I'm usually back to normal after a few months (!). (The antibiotics never worked for me and that's all that the doctor wanted to prescribe, that and prednisone.)

So, basically, I use 1 or more of the following as needed....

Zyrtec
Sudafed (or more accurately the CVS generic version)
Benedryl
Mucinex
Saline sprays
Cough drops
Kleenex
Lots and lots of tea (I especially like it spicy when I'm totally stuffed up, so I may use ginger, horseradish, or cayenne pepper for a little kick...)

Like I said, every once in a while, I'm granted a few blessed weeks of normalcy....then I catch a cold and the cycle begins again.

She really doesnt have any systems after eating anything in particular. On avg, she's always the same. in teh winter it sometimes gets worse because of the weather. she doesnt drink any cow milk and hasnt in years, but she does eat regular yogurt every day. i bought her an humidifier a few years ago when her syptoms started getting worse. before that she would have bad colds or get really sick a few times a year. or her asthma would get bad so she would do a steroid regime for a short time. she use to live in a house with central heat. since sept when we all moved together its been gas radiator heat. we do have three cats, but her symptoms havent gotten worse or improved. she has always been around some animals her whole life.

i will most diffenerntly look into the elderberry syrup. i dont want her to have to be drugged up all the time to get relief.

When I decided to go to an ENT, because the shots weren't really doing much for me, I got blood work done (they can see what you're allergic to that way also) and it turned out I wasn't really allergic to anything anymore. WEIRD.

Yet I still have the symptons as always.

Sometimes I just settle with doomed.

The nielmed spray "netti" pot is what I use and it helps sometimes, I'd say it'd be the best out of medicine, prescription nasal sprays, etc.

i do want her to get an allergy test. so we can know what she is allergic to. i try to dust or vacuum daily.

she has never had to deal with sinus infections, which is a shock! sudafed and bendarly does nothing for her. i make her ginger honey tea everyday.

my sis does get to the point where she doesnt even notice she cant breath from her nose, then she would had a time where it is really bad. like now. she tells me she usually has no bodyaches but sometimes feels weak and tired.

I think on the box it says don't take for more than 3 days at a time. That's one of the reasons that I decided to go with sudafed instead.

ETA: One of the ways that chronic sinusitis differs from the acute version is that the symptoms are usually milder, especially in regards to pain/body aches.

Chronic sinusitis: Infection present for eight weeks or more, and similar to that of subacute sinusitis, symptoms may be mild and consist of nasal congestion, post-nasal drip, mild headaches, chronic cough and fatigue. Some people may be misdiagnosed as having allergies when, in fact, they have a chronic sinus infection.

I think on the box it says don't take for more than 3 days at a time. That's one of the reasons that I decide to go with sudafed instead.

Originally Posted by CurlyCurlies

Yea I already know.

I actually found that out myself, because after a couple of days I realize it didn't work.

I sometimes feel like I use so much crap that I'm just gonna kill over.

I try to not take over the counter medicine because I take so much crap already.

So I just deal and suffer.

At the ENT they have a machine that will clear your nose out, it's crazy, it also makes your nose numb, I don't know what it is but I could smell for like a whole day, it was like I had a whole new nose. ahahahha

Without having insurance I would suggest:
Take 1tsp daily of locally harvested honey (recently made, therefore containing the current pollens & not heated. You can google for a local apiary or check out your local farmers market)
Claritin or Zyrtec daily. Generics are fine.
Eliminate dairy from her diet completely, at the very least cows milk
If possible, eliminate all carpeting, curtains/drapery, any stuffed animals, etc
Put allergy covers on her mattress & pillows
Green tea is very helpful for thinning secretions & a cup a day could be beneficial

Sounds like it could be allergens. It could be food or environment related. I was like that for a while when we had a cat in the house and I realized that's what I was allergic to. I had a blood test done. I am also highly allergic to dust and other types of mold. If it's an older house it could be dust or some thing in the walls or vents. The other thing to try is to eliminate the typical trouble foods. Has she stayed at a another place to see if it's environmental?

Claritin does nothing for the poor kid. She lives on local honey. We also have raw honey, and international honey. She drinks green tea everyday. I looked up some prices for insurance and its no way she could swing it even with my dad's and my help. For the pass few years no matter where she goes its always the same story, which is why we don't think it environmental. In the pass 10 years, she has lived in maybe 8 different houses and its just gotten worse. She even lived in a house one of those air purifier things. The only thing I can even think of is getting an allergy test for her. I also don't get why she seems to feel worse when she comes on her period.

I have to say its kind of a relief that it seems that so many others experience this. She was so afraid she had some sort of rare disorder since the doctors were really no help.

You said it gets worse when her period starts? That, to me, sounds like she has a hormone issue (perhaps combined with something else that's making it so bad). When I was pregnant, I was congested pretty much the whole time. There's something called pregnancy rhinitis that is basically just stuffy nose of pregnancy. It went away pretty much as soon as I gave birth. Your sister isn't pregnant (I don't think), but it could be similar in that it's caused by some type of endocrine problem. Does she have any other things that might point to hormonal issues? Acne? Oily hair? Headaches? Anything like that?

She does get bad headaches some times. Usually a few advil will help. She doesn't have oily skin at all. She does have horrible dry scalp. Like use flakes as if your scalp is shedding its skin. She has very mild breakouts. She use to have it worse. She was on differin gel when she was in high school. The house we live in now was just inspected for mold so I'm sure we are could there. We have been planning to get some more vitamins at the vitamin shop we can get some fish oil and probotics. I can also look into a HEPA air purifier. Cutting out some food is easy, but gluten... yikes! That would be hard. We most def want to find out and treat the cause. We have been treating the symptoms for so long we have a mini pharmacy in the house.

Thanks so much! These suggestions are awesome. We will try them all until when can get to the doctor.